For years, it was said that the Prince of Wales was unfaithful to Princess Diana from the beginning of their marriage, now a version emerges that contradicts it if Diana really cheated on Charles. Did Diana cheat on Charles? Let’s take a look
Lady Di’ cheated on Prince Charles first; confesses former bodyguard
It is a fact that the marriage of Princess Diana of Wales and Prince Charles was full of infidelities by both of them. So far, the known version is just the one given by Lady Di herself in the controversial 1995 interview for the BBC’s Panorama program. So, did Prince Charles cheat on Diana?
“Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded”, assured Diana, referring to the romance of years that her still husband (although they were already separated) maintained with Camilla Parker Bowles, today the current wife of the future king.
The princess also said that her bulimia and self-harm problems were a consequence of the prince’s infidelity.
In the Netflix series, The Crown, this same version is also handled, portraying the hidden relationship that Prince Charles had with Camilla, while a young Diana is seen suffering from the lack of attention from her husband and her relationship issues, which later resulted in her being unfaithful.
But the story now presents a twist that had not been raised before: supposedly the one who first failed to fulfill her vows was the princess herself and not him. This has been revealed by Diana’s former bodyguard, Sergeant Allan Peters.
Did Princess Diana cheat on her husband?
The former policeman had never spoken about the time he worked for the princess, a working relationship that lasted seven years and ended in 1989, but now he gave an interview to CNN.
“The popular perception is that the Prince of Wales strayed from his marriage, and that’s definitely not the case, definitely, unequivocally, the first person who strayed was the princess. (Charles) went back to Mrs. Parker Bowles after he found out about (Diana’s) affair with Mannakee,” he said.
According to the former bodyguard’s version, he was the one who informed the prince that Diana, then 24, was having an affair with protection officer Barry Mannakee, one of the people who looked after little William and Harry. Mannakee was 37, the father of two daughters, and died in a motorcycle accident in 1987.
Apparently, Peters had noticed Diana’s strange behavior when Mannakee was around, and after initially denying it, it was she who confirmed his suspicions: “She told me exactly what was going on; she was having some kind of relationship with Mannakee.
The truth is that for years there had already been talking of the close relationship Diana had with Barry, but her own co-workers never imagined there was anything between them.
“We could see that she liked him. It was ‘Barry this’ and ‘Barry that,’ but we never dreamed there was anything between them because Barry was a braggart…he would have bragged about it. He never did,” said one of his former colleagues, Inspector Graham Smith. Although they do claim that the chemistry between him and Diana was evident, and they flirted with each other, something that made the butlers, valets, and stylists uncomfortable.
For its part, a source close to the princess has commented that it seems very strange that now this former bodyguard decides to share this version of events just with the recent news about the health of Queen Elizabeth.
“It seems extraordinary that Allan Peters, who has hardly ever spoken about his royal service, chooses to do so now and on this subject. It makes one wonder about the motive,” he stated, hinting that it would be very convenient for Prince Charles to clean up his image before becoming king and, evidently, for the people to better accept his consort, Camilla, who for many remains the “villain” of the story.
Answers to the 4 main questions about these infidelities
Did Diana and Charles sleep together before they got married?
Apparently, Princess Diana was aware of how important it was to be a virgin at the time she met Prince Charles. Therefore, it would have been unlikely that she would have let him approach her sexually before marriage.
“Everything I have read regarding Diana and Charles indicates that they were not intimate before their wedding. Diana had no sexual experience when she met Charles, and that is one thing that made her such a good fit for the position of the King’s future wife.
Who cheated first in Princess Diana’s and Charles’s marriage?
It would have been Diana who was first unfaithful with a colleague of hers, Officer Barry Mannakee.
It was Peters himself who revealed to the Prince of Wales the truth about his wife’s affair with Mannakee. Although he had already been rumored to have been very close to the princess, they were not known to be lovers.
Did Diana know that Charles didn’t love her?
Penny Thornton, an astrologer Diana asked for advice, made a revelation in the documentary The Diana Interview: The Princess’s Revenge: Charles would have told his future wife just a day before they married that he did not love her.
“One of the most shocking things Diana told me was that the night before the wedding Charles told her he didn’t love her,” Thornton said in the documentary… I think Charles didn’t want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her, and it was devastating for Diana.”
Did Charles and Diana sleep in separate bedrooms?
In December 1992, Diana spent one of the worst Christmases in living memory at Sandringham. She and Charles slept in separate rooms, and they were in constant confrontations, due to their infidelities and failed marriage.
